Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash was on hand at Yas Mall for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship draw as well as leading tennis clinic for children. Courtesy: Mubadala World Tennis Championship
Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash was on hand at Yas Mall for the Mubadala World Tennis Championship draw as well as leading tennis clinic for children. Courtesy: Mubadala World Tennis Championship

Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka on course for MWTC final showdown after draw at Yas Mall



Rafael Nadal and Stanislas Wawrinka are on course to meet in the Mubadal World Tennis Championship (MWTC) final after the pair were kept apart in the draw on Saturday.

Taking place from December 31 to January 2, MWTC will see six of the world’s best tennis players contending for the title in Abu Dhabi.

Led by tournament ambassador Pat Cash, the draw at Yas Mall set up a showdown between Spain’s world No 7 David Ferrer and Frenchman Jo-Wilfriend Tsonga, the world No 10, as the opening match of the tournament.

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Day 1 will also host a battle of the big-servers as South African world No 12 Kevin Anderson faces Canada’s world No 14 Milos Raonic. Therefore, Wawrinka, the two-time grand slam champion, and former world No 1 Rafael Nadal both received byes into the second day of MWTC.

The winner of the Ferrer-Tsonga contest will take on Nadal for a place in the final, with Wawrinka awaiting the outcome of the Anderson-Raonic match.

“The Mubadala World Tennis Championship always serves up some amazing action and memorable tennis for the Middle East,” Cash said during Saturday’s draw. “Every player likes to get their year underway with a good, solid performance and hopefully a win, so to do it here in Abu Dhabi against the best really helps build confidence for the year ahead.

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“Players love coming and competing here in the UAE and although we see fierce competition on the court, there is a relaxed environment off of it and players have the chance to spend time meeting fans and coaching youngsters. Overall it is a great experience for all, and a fantastic display of the sport we love at its best.”

Tickets for MWTC are available at www.ticketmaster.ae and all Virgin Megastores across the UAE.

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MATCH INFO

What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany

Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)

Company Profile

Name: JustClean

Based: Kuwait with offices in other GCC countries

Launch year: 2016

Number of employees: 130

Sector: online laundry service

Funding: $12.9m from Kuwait-based Faith Capital Holding

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

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Director: Laxman Utekar

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Rating: 1/5

Company%20Profile
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MATCH INFO

Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')

Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”